


That’s My Dad!

by The_Mishamigo



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Brief description of violence, Gen, Mentioned Ben Parker, Peter Parker Calls Tony Stark "Dad", Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Worried Tony Stark, temporary memory loss
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-05
Updated: 2020-12-05
Packaged: 2021-03-10 04:02:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,923
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27887992
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Mishamigo/pseuds/The_Mishamigo
Summary: Peter loses his memory and thinks Tony is his dad. Tony decides to go along with it.
Relationships: Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Comments: 11
Kudos: 215





	That’s My Dad!

**Author's Note:**

> Been on this site since 2016 and this is my ✨30th✨ fic!

Peter thought this would be an easy mission. That was until he was thrown back by an alien, hitting his head on the side of a building. He watched as everyone kept fighting yet the figures just turned blurry. He tried to stay awake but something in his head was telling him to close his eyes. So, he did. The last thing he heard was worried call from his mentor, Tony Stark.

Tony sat at Peter’s bedside every single night he was asleep. He’d never seen the boy so quiet. He brushed a piece of his hair out of his face, sighing. He looked so young. Tony sighed. He stared. He waited. The doctor’s told him that there was a chance that he’d never wake up again. There was no way Tony was going to let that happen. He took the kid’s hand and pressed his lips against the boy’s knuckles. “I love you, Pete. I promise when you wake up that we’ll watch all the Star Wars films.” He said, his voice breaking. “I’ll never complain at the sight of your legos all over the living room floor, I swear. I just need you to wake up.” His begging, however, fell to deaf ears. The machine was beeping, letting Tony know there was still some hope left. The sound that filled the room was the only thing telling him that his kid was still alive. For now... that was enough. 

Peter stirred in his bed. The first thought he had was that this was an incredibly comfortable bed. He sat up and froze. He had no idea where he was or who was sat beside him, the man’s head resting on his knees. He stared. His head turned to the TV. Nothing was on. The screen was grey and making some noise that hurt Peter’s ears. It was static and that’s what Peter’s brain felt like. He heard the heartbeat of the man in front of him. His confusion only deepened when he tried to move the blanket his hands were resting on. The blanket just moved with his hands, however, his flesh sticking to the cotton. A sharp pain fell through him so he let out a quiet whimper, his eyes widening as the man next to him woke up.

“Peter?” The man said, his voice quiet. He rubbed his eyes, as if he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. A massive smile fell over his face when he realised the boy was awake. “Peter? Oh my god, kid! Never do that to me again.” 

Peter? Was that his name? That sounded right, he guessed. He blinked a few times and stared at the man. He must know him from somewhere. He really did look familiar. The silence seemed to worry the man so he decided to speak but he really didn’t know what to say. “Uh. I won’t. Whatever I did.” 

Tony looked into the boy’s eyes. “Pete... do you know who I am?” He asked, his hand covering Peter’s. He took the boy’s hand when he didn’t answer, squeezing it slightly. “I won’t be mad if you don’t, kiddo.”

Peter shook his head slightly and looked over at the door, cowering slightly as tens of doctors surrounded him. He stared up at the bright light that was shone in his eyes. “What’s going on? I don’t know who any of you are! What are you doing!” He cried, staring at Tony. The man’s face fell. The way the man was holding Peter made him think that he must be his dad. He suddenly felt really guilty that he didn’t remember who he was. “Dad, help me! Dad- please!” 

Tony watched in horror as his kid shook under the doctor’s gaze. He looked around, wondering why he was shouting for his dad when everyone started to stare at him. Peter was looking directly at him when he said it. Hearing it come from Peter’s mouth made his heart burn, it made him feel happy. He’d want nothing more then the kid to actually be his own but he wasn’t that lucky in life. If Peter had come into his life earlier... things would’ve been a lot different. Perhaps the two of them, with Pepper, Rhodey, Happy and May would’ve lived a happy life. But, that was just a passing thought. Peter was stood right in front of him, screaming for him (his dad). Tony didn’t have the heart to correct him, both for Peter and himself. 

Tony confirmed the diagnosis with the doctors. Peter had a case of temporary amnesia from head trauma. Well, they hoped it was temporary. Peter was discharged that evening, Tony as his primary carer. The kid was going to stay in the tower whilst he recovered as his Aunt didn’t have the money to stop work to look after him. Tony did offer to pay for everything so she never had to work again but she was just not having it. 

Tony showed Peter to his bedroom and smiled when the kid’s eyes lit up at the sight. Tony had it done only a few weeks after the kid came to the tower for the first time. His relationship with the kid was special to him, he loved the kid. The kid was his favourite young adult. He didn’t realise his love ran deep enough to consider the boy a son until one evening as they were curled up on the sofa watching another disney film the teenager had recommended. 

“I love you.” Peter said. “I don’t know who you are, like I don’t know your personality and everything but I can tell that I love you, Dad.” Tony was glad to see that the kid didn’t forget how to ramble. He wrapped the kid in his favourite blanket and asked Rhodey to deliver them some hot chocolate.

Tony’s hand wrapped around Peter’s shoulders, a breath of relief falling out of his mouth. He listened to the kid’s heartbeat, the only sound he could hear. It was such a stark difference to the sound of the beeping machine and he decided that he liked this sound a lot better. It let him know that his kid was alive. 

“I love you too, kiddo.” He said, pulling the kid into a hug. “Rhodey’s my best friend, you call him Uncle Rhodey sometimes.” He explained as the other man walked in. He had forgotten to tell the other teammates that the kid was awake, too focused on the boy. “Kid’s got amnesia.” He added at the end of the sentence, directing it to Rhodey. “They believe it’s temporary.” 

Rhodey’s face softened at the sight in front of him. Ever since Peter came into his life, Tony had changed for the better. He was more open, more loving, and the relationship the two of them shared was heartwarming. He walked over to the bedside table and put the two mugs of hot chocolate down. “Heya Pete,” He smiled. 

Peter looked cautiously at the man, subconsciously pulling himself closer to Tony. He smiled a little at Rhodey as the man smiled at him, timidly giving him a wave. “Hello.” He said, his voice barely coming out of his mouth. “T-Thank you for the drink.” 

“That’s okay, buddy.” Rhodey sighed. “How are you feeling?”

“Not good.” Peter said. Tony sighed, looking down at the kid. At least he was finally telling them the truth, Tony thought. “Dad’s looking after me though.” 

The two men shared eye-contact, making Peter feel a bit out of place. His dad mouthed something to the newcomer that Peter couldn’t see. He started to tear up as he looked around what was supposedly his room in the embrace of his father. “D-Dad, I’m scared,” He whimpered.

The sound of Peter’s whimpering made Tony’s heart break even more. He tore his eyes away from Rhodey’s glance and took the kid’s small hands into his. “You’ll be okay, buddy.” He gave the boy a kiss on the side of his forehead and revealed in the fact that he had him here. “I’ll always be around for you, Peter. I swear I will. Whenever you need me.” 

Peter nodded. A small smile came onto his face. “Thank you,” He whispered. The warmth of his father felt familiar, the way they held each other made him feel safe and secure. “You’re a good dad.” 

Tony almost laughed. He had spent so long denying to the rest of the team that he acted like a father to Peter. Somebody had told him he was a good father, mockingly, almost every day of the week. It always made him smile on the inside, his exterior denying it. But, hearing it from the boy himself... it felt like the wall around his heart, that he built to keep himself safe, was falling. He simply put one of his hand’s in Peter curls and smiled. “Thanks Pete.. but you’re an even better son.”

Tony put Peter to bed a little bit later that evening, their mugs of hot chocolate drank and left on his bedside table. He tucked the boy in, leaving a kiss to his temple, and slowly walked out of the room. He wanted to stay in there, he wanted to make sure his boy was safe but he knew he couldn’t stand and watch him sleep for hours on end. He closed the door and almost jumped out of his skin when Rhodey was stood waiting for him.

“Tony...,” He started, his tone of voice accusing. 

Tony waved a hand in front of his best friend’s face. “Please spare me the lecture. I know it’s wrong to let him believe it but please just let me have it.. I don’t want to correct him. He’s lost, Rhodey. He’s so confused and I- I don’t want to hurt him.” 

“You could end up hurting him more, Tony.” Rhodey said as the two of them walked down to hallway to make their way to the communal kitchen. Tony took a seat on one of his modern bar stood and placed his head in his hand, stress evident on his face. Rhodey stood opposite him with a frown. “You know I’m right, Tones. People might question it. He might even question it. What if his real memories start to come back and conflict the ones you’re making with him? He’ll be even more confused.” 

“Rhodey, please,” Tony sighed. “I can’t do it. I can’t- it-,” He took a deep breath. “It was the way he looked at me. He looked at me like I was his entire world and what if he hates me because I lied to him?” 

“He looked at you like that before, Tony. That wouldn’t change if he knew what your actual relationship was.” Rhodey looked at his best friend and shook his head. “There’s more to this, isn’t there? I know you, Tony. What’s going on?”

“Jesus, Rhodey,” Tony mumbled to himself. He bit down on his lip and stared at his marble tabletop. “You’re really not going to give up on this, are you?” He looked up to see Rhodey staring at him, waiting for him to continue. “Fine. I like it. I know, I’m so selfish. There is just something about him calling me Dad that makes me so happy. I look at him and- and it’s almost like he actually is mine and.. I don’t know? I guess I just wish it was true.” 

“You don’t have to be his biological father to be like a dad to him, Tony. You already are that figure in his life. The ‘word’ doesn’t change a thing.” Rhodey smiled but it was soft, he was just worried for his friend. He smiled a little. “I understand, though. Keep the charade up but just don’t be surprised when it goes wrong.”

Peter woke up in the middle of the night with a sweat. He sat up in the bed and stared down at his hand as his duvet cover stuck to them, just like the bed covers in the hospital had done earlier. He stayed still for a minute and focused, getting it away from him. He cringed, hearing everything around him. He put his feet onto the floor and walked around the room, trying to find reminders of his life he couldn’t remember. He looked at the photo frame on his desk and smiled at the picture of his father and him. He put his hand on the door knob and heard people talking. He opened the door, expecting them to be outside, but nobody was there. He walked down the hallway and peered into the living room where two men were sat on the sofa, talking. 

Bucky and Steve were sat on the common room sofa, the first time it had just been the two of them in a while. Bucky’s arm was timidly lead close to Steve’s, almost begging to get closer. Steve was about to take Bucky’s hand, his fingertips edging closer and closer, until he heard a door open down the hall. He looked over to the door of the living room and saw a confused looking Peter looking around. He sighed, looked at Bucky, and got up to try and help the boy.

“Should you not be asleep?” Steve yawned, “I bet Tony wouldn’t be happy to see you awake.” 

“Tony?” He tilted his head. “Who is that?”

“You haven’t met Tony since you’ve woken up?” Steve asked. The boy looked at him confused so he smiled a little as not to make him feel bad. “He’s got a weird shaped goatee and wears suits all the time.”

“Oh. Do you mean my dad?” He said, glancing over to the hallway. “Yeah, he put me to bed and told me to tell some lady if I needed him.. but I can’t find her.”

“Your dad?” Steve mumbled to himself. He decided not to press on the matter, it was none of his business. He put a hand on Peter’s shoulder to keep him still as the boy looked frantic as ever. “Did he tell you what this lady was called? I can help you find her.”

“Thank you,” Peter smiled. Steve smiled back. He had missed the teenager’s smile during the time he was in the temporary coma so it was nice to see again. “Her name is Friday? I-,”

“Ohhhh, Pete- Friday’s not a person. Friday is Tony’s AI. Tony told me, I’m not exactly on his level of intelligence so he dumbed it down for me, that she’s more like a computer. She runs the building. You can ask her a question just by talking into the air.” Peter looked a little lost. It reminded him of the confusion he felt when he first got out of the ice, to be awake when you don’t know much about everything around you was confusing at the most of times but to have the world’s best technology in your own room.. it was really daunting. “Look, kid. I’ll how you. Friday, can you please tell Tony to come up to the living room? Peter’s looking for him.”

“Ok, Mr Rodgers!” A voice from the ceiling said. Peter stared up at the top of the ceiling with his eyes sparkling, in awe of the creation he used to know so much about. Only a minute later, a tired looking Tony came up dressed in old pyjamas that Steve had never seen before. In fact, he rarely saw Tony out of his suit or formal clothing. It was a nice change of pace. 

Tony walked up to the kid, rubbing his eyes. “What’s up, kiddo? Why are you awake?”

“Dad-,” He said, rushing straight to him. He put his arms around the man’s waist and brought him into a hug. He felt the man tense up a little so went to pull away, confused, but was brought right back in. “I couldn’t sleep and I missed you.” 

Steve watched Tony’s face light up at Peter’s words. The man put a hand into Peter’s curls and sighed into his touch. “Oh, kid.” He smiled. “How about you come and sleep in mine and Pep’s room?”

“Pep? Have I met her before? Is that my mum?” He asked, pulling away from their hug. “Would she mind?”

“She’s not your mum, no.” His hand fell to his side as he tried to come up with an excuse as to why Peter’s mum wasn’t around without admitting he wasn’t actually his father. “She won’t mind. You’ve slept in our bed before when you’ve had nightmares.” It wasn’t a lie. Tony’s bed was massive and had plenty of a room for the Spider-kid and Peter had taken up that opportunity a few times. Whenever he had tear stained eyes and shaking hands, his body would work on auto-pilot and before he knew it he was stood at Tony’s door with begging eyes. Tony would sigh but he’d always pat the spot beside him and smile when the kid climbed into his side and he’d always sleep better knowing Peter was there. 

“Can I then? Please?” He said, taking Tony’s hand. 

Tony nodded. “Come on. You need to get to sleep or you won’t be up until noon tomorrow.”

Steve watched them both walk away with a sense of admiration in his eyes. He really had watched Tony grow. He had once been an arrogant man who refused to change but then that all changed the moment he met Peter. Peter had brought a light into his life. 

Peter jumped into the huge bed, in between Tony and Pepper. He snuggled into Tony as soon as the man got in. “Night dad,” He whispered into his chest, closing his eyes. He felt safe in his father’s arms, the nightmares he had in the beginning of the night falling away. 

Pepper woke up in the morning with a smile. She turned over to see Tony’s content smile, Peter spread out between the two of them. She stretched her legs, putting them onto the floor. She winced, watching Peter stir until he blinked a few times.

“Morning sweetheart,” She smiled, tucking a piece of her long hair behind her ear. “Sleep well?”

Peter nodded. “I did, thank you. Um, Pepper? How well did we know each other?” 

Pepper sighed softly, sitting down on the bed. “Come here,” She said, patting down on the bed next to her. Peter scurried up to sit beside her, smiling as she put an arm around him. “Very well, Petey. Tony loves you very much so I see you a whole bunch. Sometimes we even ditch him and go on outings together.”

“We do?” Peter smiled. “That’s nice.” 

“How are you feeling?” 

“Not good, really. My mind feels like mush. I hate not being able to remember anything. I see everyone around me and I can see the way they look at me.” Peter sighed.

“How do they look at you?”

“They look at me like everything is normal, like I remember them. I know... normality should feel good, right? But it doesn’t. I can describe how it feels.” Peter said, looking down at his arms. “I can’t even remember my own father.”

Pepper looked over at Tony, still asleep on the side of the bed. His chest is rising, his breathing the only sound in the room as the two of them sit in silence. She takes one of Peter’s hands and squeezes it gently. “It’ll be okay, Pete. It’ll all be okay.”

Peter was walking down the hallway later that day when something scared him. A loud noise came from the kitchen, the sound of something smashing. He was so scared that he jumped, falling into the wall. Peter’s hands stuck to the side and before he knew it, he had managed to climb all the way up to the ceiling. 

“Peter?” Tony said, coming from around the corner. Friday told him that he was here. “Kid?” 

“Dad!” Peter cried. “What’s happening to me?” 

“Peter?” Tony looked around. “Where are you?” 

“Up!”

Tony looked up and his face paled. Peter was currently stuck on his ceiling. Luckily, he didn’t make these ones too tall. “Oh shit,” he muttered underneath his breath.

“Why am I sticking to the wall?! Can everyone do this?!” Peter cried out, “Help me!”

“Nope! Just you, kiddo!” Tony said, trying not to sound as stressed as he felt. “Right, kid. If you let go, I’ll catch you!” 

“Let go?! Dad! Are you crazy?!” He said. “Holy- I’m so high up!” 

“If you only you thought like that all the time,” Tony muttered under his breath. “It’s okay, kiddo! Trust me!” 

Peter took a deep breath. “Fine! But I swear-,” He relaxed and let his hand fall of the ceiling. He went falling and landed straight into Tony’s arms. 

“Oh god-,” Tony chuckled to himself, putting Peter down on the floor. “I really didn’t expect that to happen.”

“It’s not funny!” Peter pouted, looking over at his dad. “Ok, maybe it is... but, why can I do that?!”

“You’ve got powers, kiddo. I don’t want you to use them during recovery, however, so please stay away from the walls.” Tony laughed. “You’re shaving years of my life expectancy doing stuff like that,”

“Noted.” Peter laughed just like his father, walking behind him as the two of them went into the kitchen.

Peter and Tony were sat on the sofa later in the day. Tony hadn’t stepped inside the lab at all that day, his time only spent at Peter’s side. Suddenly, a yellow portal appeared in front of them. Dr Strange walked around. 

“Holy shit!” Peter shouted, jumping up. “Who the hell are you!” 

“Language, Peter,” Tony said. “Strange. I would say nice to see you but is it?”

“I think you’ll change that tune when I tell you I can fix Peter’s memory problem.” Strange rolled his eyes, moving over to Peter. “I’m Dr Strange.”

“You just came out of nowhere!” Peter said, taking a step back. “Holy-,” 

“He does do that.” Tony said. He looked down at his hands with a frown. For some stupid reason, the back of his head was telling him to not accept Strange’s offer. He didn’t want to give up the feeling of being Peter’s dad. He wanted Peter to believe in their relationship for as long as he could. But that was selfish. He missed Peter and his rambling about things that only he could ever care about, the way he’d hold Tony’s hand if he ever got scared during move night and the way he still got excited over the lab every single time he came over. He knew he needed to get his memories back. “Peter’s tired so we could do it after he goes to sleep?” 

“Stark,” Strange said, rolling his eyes. “I know why you’d like me to postpone this but I think it’s important I get his memories back now.” 

Tony nodded. “You’re right. Don’t get too excited, that’s the first and last time you’ll ever hear that from me.” 

Strange took the two of them back through the portal. Peter’s eyes were wide as he looked around at the new room they were in. He muttered a little ‘what the hell’ as he stared at wizard man and his dad interacting. 

Wizard man sat Peter down in a chair. “Right,” Strange said, looking over at Tony. “This might be a bit hard on the kid but from what I’ve researched... I have to have someone with a strong connection look at his darkest memory. Something to do with the love in your hearts giving the memories back.”

“... Right...” Tony nodded. “And how did you find this out?”

“You all thought you were fighting aliens? Nope. They were..., as you call us, ‘wizards’. I found out that one of them cast a spell on Peter just before he hit his head. Did you really something so small would harm this little Spider?” 

“Spider?” Peter asked, confused. “What is going on?”

Strange took Tony’s hand, reluctantly, and put his other onto Peter’s forehead. Before Peter could ask something, his eyes fell back to the ceiling. His body relaxed in the chair as a light began to emit from him. “Relax, Tony. I can see you freaking out from here. He’s fine.” Strange said.

The light reached Tony and suddenly he wasn’t in the room anymore. Tony was standing on the side of a road. It was raining. The skies were dark and only two stars were shining. As Tony walked around, he heard some commotion from down the street.

He walked over to the store to see Peter stood there, a gun to his head. A man was stood next to him (he looked just like Peter), looking as nervous as Tony felt. Peter’s eyes were on him, saying something Tony couldn’t quite hear. Then the gunshot went off. It didn’t hit Peter, however. The gunshot went straight through the older man’s torso.

Tony rushed inside to see Peter grabbing the man’s body. Ben, he realised. Ben’s blood was all over the kid’s hands. Tony had to stand and watch as the kid held his dying Uncle. 

This would a lot worse than Peter could’ve ever described. The fear in Peter’s eyes were potent, Tony could see them from a mile away. His hands were shaking as he tried to cover the wound. “Uncle Ben, no!” He was crying, grabbing the man. “No, no, no!” 

Tony went to close his eyes but he couldn’t. The magic kept them open as the scene in front him changed. 

Tony wasn’t back in the room with Strange, he was stood in front of a warehouse. He could see Peter standing inside it, wearing his old suit. It must’ve been homecoming night. He knew it was bad but why was this part of his darkest memories? He saw the vulture flying around him. The man flew past Tony, making his head turn. As Tony looked back, his kid was stuck underneath the building. His crying was just so loud as he begged for someone to come help him. Tony was nowhere to be seen that night. He stared as Peter picked up the rubble, pushing it away from him. Jesus, the kid was brilliant. He was so brave.

Watching him get out was the biggest relief. He stared at the kid, bruises all over his body, and felt himself tear up. Before he could let out all his emotions, he was back with Strange.

Strange’s hands left his. Tony looked over at Peter as he started to wake up. The kid blinked a few times and made eye contact with Tony.

“I’m so sorry, Mr Stark. I bet you were so annoyed that I kept calling you Dad. I didn’t know, I swear. I just-,” Peter stumbled over his words, not wanting to look Tony in the eyes.

“Sorry? Jesus, kiddo,” He said, taking the kid in his arms. He squeezed him a bit too tight but he needed to after he saw what happened to the kid. “I was going to apologise to you. It fell good hearing you call me dad, I wanted it to last.”

“You want me to call you dad?” He asked, smiling a little. 

“Only if you’d like to,” 

“Of course!” Peter nodded. “I’d love to, dad! Oh!” He looked over at Strange, hugging the man. Strange froze, his eyes widening. It reminded him of the first time Peter hugged him. He let out a tiny smile as Strange hugged back. Peter really brought the best side out of people. “Thank you for bringing my memories back!” 

“Anytime, Peter. You are the only one I like out of the team, after all,” He grinned, sending the two of them back to the tower through one of his portals.

“Steve!” He called, “Natasha! Clint! Bucky! Rhodey! Everyone! I remember things!” 

They all joined Peter, sitting around him in a big pile. Peter was everyone’s favourite in the room, by far. Apart from Peter himself, who loved Tony the most. 

Tony sat from afar, watching the group. He couldn’t help but feel a pang in his heart as he saw Peter’s big smile. As Tony took the kid to bed, Peter stopped him from walking out of the door.

“You’ve been looking at me like I’m going to break all day. What did you see when Strange put my memories back?” Peter asked him, holding his hand to pull him back.

“I don’t think you’re going to break, Petey. I’m in awe of how strong you are. I saw Ben’s death and the building,” Tony said. Peter winced at the mention of his memories “I love you and what I saw made me love you even more. I’m just confused on how happy you are considering everything...,” Tony finished, sighing. 

“Because I’ve got people like you in my life, dad. You all keep me going. I’d be nowhere without you. I miss Ben terribly and I can’t walk into a building without thinking it could collapse. However, you’re always there to catch me. I’m happy whenever I’m with you because what can go wrong if you’re around.” Peter told his father figure, smiling down at him. 

“You know you’re the best kid in the world, right?” Tony asked, laughing when Peter shook his head with a smile. “I’ll always be here for you. I love you, bambino,” 

“I love you too, dad,”


End file.
